Tomorrow, or actually today, March 29, is my birthday, yeay! I love birthdays, maybe because my parents always made such a big deal out of them, and holidays in general, when I was a child. I always think about my birth family, especially my Mother, on my birthday and wish that maybe this year they would contact me and be kind. Yeah right, dream on Jacqui, and maybe Eunice will come by with a cake, heh.

Irma and her children are leaving for Boston tomorrow so we're going to have another early day. We have to get up to go pick her up and drive her to the airport because her van will be loaded with all of her luggage; putting two suitcases and one carry on for five people in a car doesn't allow a lot of room for people. I was planning on surprising her at the airport anyway. Beau and I want to see them off. We love them and will miss them so.

Irma is going to leave her van with me -- at least I hope she will, she's said she wants to, but her brother has to do some work on it first so we'll see. I'm hoping to be able to let Anna, (our new housekeeper/helper/assistant), drive it until Beau gets out of school in June and then I'll take Beau, after the Fourth of July, and we'll drive it across the country to Boston and give it back to Irma. She couldn't find anyone to sell it to and she can't afford to pay to have it delivered, so this way, we'll have a second car until Beau gets out of school, and we'll have the trip of a lifetime seconds before my fourteen year old son gets to the point where he will no longer be willing to spend any time with me.

I've been dreaming about driving across the country for years. Hopefully we'll be able t find campgrounds and with sleeping bags and pillows we'll sleep in the van. Maybe we can hook up with Live Journal friends along the way. Wouldn't that be wonderful?

Irma and Esther and their kids came by this afternoon to surprise me for my birthday, which was so nice of them. The kids all made me cards -- I love handmade cards -- and Irma gave me a little cross and a key chain heart that had her name on one half and my name on the other -- she keeps the Jacqui half and I keep the Irma one -- just like the gold heart charm I gave her. Esther gave me a Chinese cheong song, (a dress), a top and some shoes. I think there was something else but I'm so tired I can't remember. There's just always something to do and I wonder if other people live like this -- running around from one event to the next -- and how they do it.

Nothing new on the Eunice/Animal Extortionist front -- just a lot of stories, worried gossip, and speculation. I'm sure I mentioned that the man never made good on his threat to call me on Thursday and after waiting around for a few hours the detectives packed up their gear and left. They're still going to track down leads, interview Eunice and try to find out a little bit more about her jailed brother. This whole thing; the weeks of spending time with Eunice, all of the drama and the weirdness just with her, and then the phone call, the cops and their world of police drama, has been so incredibly stressful, frightening and surreal. I can't believe it happened. I keep forgetting and referring to other people as Eunice and thinking she's still here. It makes me so sad. I'm relieved, unbelievably relieved that it seems to be over, for the moment, we'll see.

Today I got up super early and picked up my friend Ghodsi, Atra's Mother -- I just call her Mommy -- and we went to my favorite swapmeet, the Santa Monica Airport Swapmeet. I found lots of good thing to sell in my case at The Wertz Brother's Antique Mall. I have to buy small things that will fit on the shelves, but I've been thinking a lot about renting a space, because I think the real money is made on the bigger items like furniture and art.

I also bought a few things for myself for my birthday, a gold gypsy ring with lots of stones, vintage French folding reading glasses with rhinestones, a hat loaded with old faded ribbons, a painting of Jesus walking on the water by Grandma Someone, (my friend Bob said I should paint a surfboard under him and I thought give him a couple of maracas might be a nice touch,) some vintage jewelry and again I'm so weary and out of it I can't remember what else. Oh I bought a wind up monkey with symbols for Atra's sister Maryam who loves monkey and two old glass eyes, I love eye related things, eyes and anything with lots of arms, I don't know why.

Yesterday was the first relatively stress free day I've spent in a couple of months. I went to the bank and had a nice lunch at a little local cafe. I went to the book store and bought some of the things I had tried to buy a few days ago when my account was overdrawn and none of my credit cards were working, sigh. There was a reading/book signing so I sat next to a nice lady with a border collie and listened to the writer read from her book, a book about surviving life in Malibu during the last few tumultuous years with all of the fires, mudslides and storms. I bought it and she signed it, we spoke a bit and her publicist/editor and I had a nice chat. I'm reading it and I'll throw up a review and a link for you in a couple of days.

After the book store I went to Ahhs and bought a Chinese Lucky Cat with a battery operated waving arm. I got the usual compliments on my weight loss and bought lots of Easter gifts for Beau; baskets, bunnies, chicks, fart and poop joke toys, and candy. Then I went to my mall and dressed up my case with ribbons, chocolate and waving kitties and chatted with friends.

Later I had a Taco Bell Mexican Pizza, or a few bites of one, without the meat, went to a terrific French bakery to pick up a few things for Atra's family and for us and got that pedicure and bikini wax I've been putting off for a couple of months. It was fun. I went to this new salon where they have these massage chairs you sit in with foot baths. I had a good time trying out my few words of Vietnamese on the manicurists. I can say hello, thank you, that hurts, that feels good, cat and dog -- not a lot to make a conversation with but they appreciate the effort. Uh oh one of the cats ran off with one of my vitamins, I'd better retrieve it.

Tomorrow night Atra and her family have invited me over for a birthday dinner and I'm looking forward to it. Things are starting to look up a bit after everything we've been through these past months but I'm going to be missing our little Tea Tea, our littlest cat, for a long time to come.